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General Apathy

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More Gifts Monday . . . . .  ( well it almost rhymes )

 

The hook was in the ammo can, I believe it might be a chain tensioner hook used in chaining down heavy equipment on road or rail transport.  The lid of the ammo can is missing, the gas-can is 42 dated, can't see any holes in it . . . . . . . . 

 

Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, September 30  2020.

 

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General Apathy
On 9/26/2020 at 6:01 PM, Dogsbody said:

Lovely event, Ken. I particularly like that Renault truck with the crane at the back.

Rene

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Hi Rene,  well seeing as you like the truck with the crane on the back take a look at this video clip on Youtube showing British and American military trucks in use in post-war Holland, lots of cranes and lots of adapted vehicles.

 

here's some Double-Dutch for you, a US truck and a US aircraft in Dutch use . . . . . . . :lol:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfEPdNgKo_4&fbclid=IwAR14ooHum9PQ6sVHY943zmxwVWb70GnR9PqSLLaALDxiuHUTfJUyo01hNw8

 

Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, October 01  2020.

 

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General Apathy
1 hour ago, Powerhouse said:

Hello,

This hook look like those of german half-track Sd.Kfz 250, 251, 10.... (the 2 hooks on the front)

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Hi Powerhouse, Welcome & Thanks ^_^,  I had a feeling it was something familiar to me but went with the vehicle tensioner chains idea. However a German vehicle collecting friend in the UK has since identified it for me and put in a request that I donate it to him. . . . . . .  funny how many friends I have at times . . . . . . . . :lol:

 

Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, September 30  2020.

 

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General Apathy

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Bill Millin D-Day piper  . . . . . . . .

 

Just re-found this shot of Bill Millin taken on one of our 1970's vehicle trips to Normandy. Our first tour was the 1974 30th anniversary of D-Day, approximately two hundred wartime vehicles took part in that first commemoration tour. 

A colour image of Bill taken in the 1940's, Bill was a very kind and caring person who had time and a smile for everyone he met. 

 

Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, October 01  2020.

 

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On 9/29/2020 at 1:13 PM, General Apathy said:

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Hi Para, thanks very much for a very interesting link to the Arnhem tour . . . . over the years I have spent many happy hours, days, weeks around Arnhem and the area with friendly Dutch collectors and vehicle owners.

 

Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, September 29  2020.

 

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+ 1 for adding the link. I don't know of any friendly Dutch collectors though, 😉

 

Rene

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2 hours ago, General Apathy said:

.

Hi Rene,  well seeing as you like the truck with the crane on the back take a look at this video clip on Youtube showing British and American military trucks in use in post-war Holland, lots of cranes and lots of adapted vehicles.

 

here's some Double-Dutch for you, a US truck and a US aircraft in Dutch use . . . . . . . :lol:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfEPdNgKo_4&fbclid=IwAR14ooHum9PQ6sVHY943zmxwVWb70GnR9PqSLLaALDxiuHUTfJUyo01hNw8

 

Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, October 01  2020.

 

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Thanks for the link and picture (she ain't so flying anymore....), Ken.

 

Whenever I see a DC-47 in that shape I'm reminded of a seemingly neverending Dutch musical called Soldaat van Oranje (Soldier of Orange) And by Orange I mean the color not the fruit...... Anyway, a feature of that musical is a dynamic stage that revolves and a real DC-47 was to become part of that stage. To get one of those planes, a museum in a place called Best was asked to lone one of theirs.  The one thing left to do was transporting the plane to the venue. Part of the wings were removed but due to a big cock-up in some calculations this happened when trying to pass a viaduct on the A44 😡:

 

dakota.jpg.8b522fd4136f7e0fe09e014dfb2de196.jpg

 

The plane was ditched for 3 years. It is now bought by someone who runs a company that transform planes into furniture and decor pieces. As far as i know the tail, wings and roof will be transformed into furniture, the cockpit wil end up as a flight simulator and the bottom of the plane will be processed as part of watches....., well it's a timeless plane anyway, so........

 

Rene

 

 

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2 hours ago, General Apathy said:

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Bill Millin D-Day piper  . . . . . . . .

 

Just re-found this shot of Bill Millin taken on one of our 1970's vehicle trips to Normandy. Our first tour was the 1974 30th anniversary of D-Day, approximately two hundred wartime vehicles took part in that first commemoration tour. 

A colour image of Bill taken in the 1940's, Bill was a very kind and caring person who had time and a smile for everyone he met. 

 

Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, October 01  2020.

 

.fullsizeoutput_6855.jpeg.1beb90ea67ea7f551162e11f1b9dcce7.jpeg

 

.fullsizeoutput_684c.jpeg.1e91b31712c782df29728b3115927e16.jpeg

 

Hi Ken, the museum Mémorial Pegasus in Normandy has this tribute to mister Millin but you obviously will know that 🙂so for the other contributers and followers of this thread here's the picture. He was a remarkable man.

 

DSC_2589.JPG.3fca8d654e3be80b12ad4eb1b0a535e1.JPG

 

 

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9 minutes ago, Dogsbody said:

Hi Ken, the museum Mémorial Pegasus in Normandy has this tribute to mister Millin but you obviously will know that 🙂so for the other contributers and followers of this thread here's the picture. He was a remarkable man.

 

DSC_2589.JPG.3fca8d654e3be80b12ad4eb1b0a535e1.JPG

 

 

I've tried to focus on the text that's in the showcase. It's a litte bit fuzzy but still readable I believe.

 

920033104_Schermopname(2823).png.f56218f419c01f1c78233931dc09ae6e.png

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General Apathy
47 minutes ago, Dogsbody said:

Thanks for the link and picture (she ain't so flying anymore....), Ken.

 

Whenever I see a DC-47 in that shape I'm reminded of a seemingly neverending Dutch musical called Soldaat van Oranje (Soldier of Orange) And by Orange I mean the color not the fruit...... Anyway, a feature of that musical is a dynamic stage that revolves and a real DC-47 was to become part of that stage. To get one of those planes, a museum in a place called Best was asked to lone one of theirs.  The one thing left to do was transporting the plane to the venue. Part of the wings were removed but due to a big cock-up in some calculations this happened when trying to pass a viaduct on the A44 😡:

 

dakota.jpg.8b522fd4136f7e0fe09e014dfb2de196.jpg

 

The plane was ditched for 3 years. It is now bought by someone who runs a company that transform planes into furniture and decor pieces. As far as i know the tail, wings and roof will be transformed into furniture, the cockpit wil end up as a flight simulator and the bottom of the plane will be processed as part of watches....., well it's a timeless plane anyway, so........

 

Rene

 

 

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Hi Rene,  Sorry to see the destruction of the C-47 you have shown.

 

I have a Jeeping friend in London ( he married one of my ex girlfriends hahahaha, divorced, and remarried another lady ). Anyway he has a friend that restores old aircraft and he is / has restored three C-47's in the last few years, he has sold one of the C-47's to a man in Oregon I believe, and offered John a flight next year to deliver it !!! using the Scotland-Iceland- Greenland-Goose Bay route. Now that's something to look forward to . . . . . . . . . :lol: :lol:

 

Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, October 01  2020.

 

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General Apathy
37 minutes ago, Dogsbody said:

I've tried to focus on the text that's in the showcase. It's a litte bit fuzzy but still readable I believe.

 

920033104_Schermopname(2823).png.f56218f419c01f1c78233931dc09ae6e.png

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Hi Rene,  many thanks for adding the shots of the memorial to Bill at the Pegasus museum, Bill travelled with our annual convoys for about ten years or so that I recall. He received a warm and appreciative welcome from French, Belgian and Dutch citizens as we travelled along and attended the WWII memorials.

 

I have enlarged your photo . . . . . . . . . . thanks

 

Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, October 01  2020.

 

.fullsizeoutput_686a.jpeg.8acd7ea7ee1c0abff8d0c8c55f549430.jpeg

 

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Hi Ken

Going back a little bit to items being found a new use,.......

This picture was taken back in 2007 when I was invited to a private visit to the Wiltz museum in the Ardennes. These garden shears had only just been found on a local property.

Kevin

grenade shears.jpg

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Johan Willaert

Catching up on the forum in between work on the GPW Jeep...

Have been very busy lately and finally started to actually spray top layer of paint on frame and springs....
Springs were all taken apart, cleaned, re-arched, primed and painted. Axles are just about rebuilt and re-assembled, so next step will be a rolling chassis...

 

Below a photo taken last night right after spraying beautiful OD mat paint...

The fun ( and less dirty) part of assembling all parts that were cleaned and primed over the past few months begins..

120728151_421876138784635_3205078004980714662_n.jpg

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19 hours ago, Dogsbody said:

Thanks for the link and picture (she ain't so flying anymore....), Ken.

 

Whenever I see a DC-47 in that shape I'm reminded of a seemingly neverending Dutch musical called Soldaat van Oranje (Soldier of Orange) And by Orange I mean the color not the fruit...... Anyway, a feature of that musical is a dynamic stage that revolves and a real DC-47 was to become part of that stage. To get one of those planes, a museum in a place called Best was asked to lone one of theirs.  The one thing left to do was transporting the plane to the venue. Part of the wings were removed but due to a big cock-up in some calculations this happened when trying to pass a viaduct on the A44 😡:

 

dakota.jpg.8b522fd4136f7e0fe09e014dfb2de196.jpg

 

The plane was ditched for 3 years. It is now bought by someone who runs a company that transform planes into furniture and decor pieces. As far as i know the tail, wings and roof will be transformed into furniture, the cockpit wil end up as a flight simulator and the bottom of the plane will be processed as part of watches....., well it's a timeless plane anyway, so........

 

Rene

 

 

 

This particular C-47 was on static display for years next to the Victory Memorial Museum at Arlon in the Belgian Ardennes, before it moved to Best and already was in a poor shape then. After the transport accident it was left for a few years in a field next to the musical venue (a hanger on an ex-navy airfield) and deteriorated even more, due to the salty air. It was subsequently purchased by the mentioned company ( www.dc3dakotahunter.com , owned by a friend of mine) and cut down as the structural frame was in too bad condition to restore it to even static display (the aluminium main spar was literally flaking).

 

The cockpit indeed is now the world's only simulator rated to train actual C-47 pilots so they can keep up their skills without having to stress an actual airframe, the wings went to a museum but are currently for sale and the rest found a new destination too. I was present when it was taken apart and I have a few small bits of this airframe in my collection.

 

Many static C-47's have been restored using parts salvaged around the world by this company (like the one at the Merville Battery in Normandy), and they even managed to rescue complete C-47's. The most recent one is the C-47 used for the new exhibit at the Madurodam theme park in The Hague, which was pulled from a Florida swamp where it made an emergency landing years ago and never left.

 

The owner of the company has written a book about his C-47 exploits: https://www.amazon.com/Dakota-Hunter-Search-Legendary-Frontiers/dp/1612002587/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&qid=1601631101&refinements=p_27%3AHans+Wiesman&s=books&sr=1-1

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1 minute ago, Johan Willaert said:

 

Hi Kevin! How are you?

I think not many will recognise the WW2 connection on those shears.... 😉

Hi Johan

I'm well. Trust all ok with you and yours ?

It will be interesting to see how many do recognise the WW2 connection. I know when I used to be in the Ardennes on a regular basis there were always bits and pieces that I recognised had a previous use.

For example, sometimes you have to look up as well as down ( not sure how well you can see on this picture )

 

sherman windows991.jpg

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32 minutes ago, Johan Willaert said:

 

Hi Kevin! How are you?

I think not many will recognise the WW2 connection on those shears.... 😉

I may be way off the mark here but since the two handles are differently shaped and the top one looks like it formerly belonged to a German Stielhandgranate my guess is that that's the WW2 connection.

Rene

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TheCrustyBosun

Picked this up during a very brief stop at Utah Beach in 2005. My ship (USCG Barque Eagle) was in Cherbourg and we came to lay a wreath for the CG. I found this in Le Roosevelt Cafe and figured, why the heck not? I’d love to go back as we never had time to visit the museums or go into shops. Had lunch across the street from the church in Sainte Mere-Église though.  Foamed at the mouth when the bus took us by the airborne museum. What a tease. 

2A35134A-2C3B-485B-AD35-73B201CCF5F6.jpeg

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General Apathy
15 hours ago, TheCrustyBosun said:

Picked this up during a very brief stop at Utah Beach in 2005. My ship (USCG Barque Eagle) was in Cherbourg and we came to lay a wreath for the CG. I found this in Le Roosevelt Cafe and figured, why the heck not? I’d love to go back as we never had time to visit the museums or go into shops. Had lunch across the street from the church in Sainte Mere-Église though.  Foamed at the mouth when the bus took us by the airborne museum. What a tease. 

2A35134A-2C3B-485B-AD35-73B201CCF5F6.jpeg

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Hi CrustyBosun,  welcome to the thread and thanks for posting your trophy you bought at the Roosevelt cafe.

When you were at the cafe looking forward out to the sea you would have been less than a hundred yards away from this famous USN bunker spot.

 

Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, October 04  2020.

 

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On 10/2/2020 at 1:14 AM, Escht said:

Hi Ken

Going back a little bit to items being found a new use,.......

This picture was taken back in 2007 when I was invited to a private visit to the Wiltz museum in the Ardennes. These garden shears had only just been found on a local property.

Kevin

grenade shears.jpg

handle from German grenades?

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General Apathy

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506th E Company Carentan Normandy . . . . . . . . .

 

everyone would probably be familiar with this well known shot of Carentan, I have annotated the shot to show the store that Dick Winters took shelter in to have an ankle wound attended to. This building is still there to be seen, the store front is visible again in the second photo to the rear of the Kettenkrad & trailer. The 506th used this route to enter Carentan, the soldiers in the shot are exiting Carentan days later. 

 

Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, October 04  2020.

 

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General Apathy

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Property in our collections . . . . . . . . .

 

OK we are all aware that vast amounts of uniform and equipment were auctioned off post WWII and sold legally through surplus stores. However have you ever given any thought to all the small items found in returning soldiers footlockers and duffle bags, a lot of these items were inadvertently saved for history through petty larceny upon discharge . . . . . . . :lol: :lol:

 

Over the years I have heard many stories from British veterans returning home at the end of WWII, the ships carrying the troops home where stopped several miles from shore and an announcement made to the effect. All personnel on board have ten minutes to retrieve and throw overboard any contraband items or souvenirs especially weapons as searches would be made upon landing and charges laid against the soldiers found with such items.  However upon disembarking the men were not searched and assembled and loaded straight onto transport back to camps and bases. 

 

Here's one footlocker Item I just remembered in one of my display cabinets that might have been ' rescued B) ' from a field or office desk, an inkwell ' Property, Airforce, U.S.Army ' made by ' Esterbrook, Drip-Less, Fountain Well, No 407.  '

 

Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, October 07  2020.

 

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General Apathy
On 10/2/2020 at 8:14 AM, Escht said:

Hi Ken

Going back a little bit to items being found a new use,.......

This picture was taken back in 2007 when I was invited to a private visit to the Wiltz museum in the Ardennes. These garden shears had only just been found on a local property.

Kevin

grenade shears.jpg

'

Hi Kevin,  good to have you CUT into this thread again . . . . .  :lol:

 

Nice hedge trimmers, pity that both handles weren't replaced.

 

Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, October 07  2020.

 

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General Apathy
On 10/2/2020 at 9:21 AM, Johan Willaert said:

Catching up on the forum in between work on the GPW Jeep...

Have been very busy lately and finally started to actually spray top layer of paint on frame and springs....
Springs were all taken apart, cleaned, re-arched, primed and painted. Axles are just about rebuilt and re-assembled, so next step will be a rolling chassis...

 

Below a photo taken last night right after spraying beautiful OD mat paint...

The fun ( and less dirty) part of assembling all parts that were cleaned and primed over the past few months begins..

120728151_421876138784635_3205078004980714662_n.jpg

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Hi Johan,  thanks I am green ( O.D. ) with envy at your recently sprayed Jeep frame, look forward to seeing it on the road someday soon I hope . . . . . . :blush:

 

Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, October 07  2020.

 

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7 hours ago, General Apathy said:

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Property in our collections . . . . . . . . .

 

OK we are all aware that vast amounts of uniform and equipment were auctioned off post WWII and sold legally through surplus stores. However have you ever given any thought to all the small items found in returning soldiers footlockers and duffle bags, a lot of these items were inadvertently saved for history through petty larceny upon discharge . . . . . . . :lol: :lol:

 

Over the years I have heard many stories from British veterans returning home at the end of WWII, the ships carrying the troops home where stopped several miles from shore and an announcement made to the effect. All personnel on board have ten minutes to retrieve and throw overboard any contraband items or souvenirs especially weapons as searches would be made upon landing and charges laid against the soldiers found with such items.  However upon disembarking the men were not searched and assembled and loaded straight onto transport back to camps and bases. 

 

Here's one footlocker Item I just remembered in one of my display cabinets that might have been ' rescued B) ' from a field or office desk, an inkwell ' Property, Airforce, U.S.Army ' made by ' Esterbrook, Drip-Less, Fountain Well, No 407.  '

 

Norman D. Landing, Forum Normandy Correspondent, October 07  2020.

 

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Well, well well, that is an interesting item.  Once again it shows that it takes more than just guns and bombs to fight a war.  They say the pen is mightier than the sword. But probably not a tank, though. 

 

Mikie 

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